Marquesan monarch

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Marquesan monarch
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Monarchidae
Genus: Pomarea
Species:
P. mendozae
Binomial name
Pomarea mendozae
(Hartlaub, 1854)
Subspecies

See text

Synonyms
  • Monarcha Mendozae

The Marquesan monarch (Pomarea mendozae) is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is endemic to French Polynesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Contents

Taxonomy and systematics

The Marquesan monarch was originally described in the genus Monarcha .

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized with one of them now extinct: [2]

Additionally, two former subspecies were each re-classified as separate species in 2012: [4]

Distribution and population

The Marquesan monarch was once fairly common and widespread in the Marquesas inhabiting islands such as Ua Pou, Nuku Hiva, Hiva Oa, Tahuata, and Mohotani but is now restricted to Mohotani. [5] An ornithological study on Mohotani in 2000 estimated that there are approximately 80-125 (formerly 200-350 pairs in 1975) left on the small island.

Ecology

The Marquesan monarch is mainly an insectivorous bird found in forest valleys at a variety of different altitudes. The species mainly prefers lowland forest but, most of that habitat was destroyed. Adults prefer areas of dense vegetation while immature birds often prefer shrubby vegetation in dry areas.

Threats

The rare Marquesan monarch faces further endangerment from hunting by feral cats and the polynesian rat, both of which are non-native introduced species to the island of Mohotani. All the Marquesas Islands have been damaged heavily by intense grazing and fire, and much of the original dry forest has been reduced to grassland while upland forest is now reduced to small forest patches.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marquesas Islands</span> Archipelago in French Polynesia

The Marquesas Islands are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southern Pacific Ocean. Their highest point is the peak of Mount Oave on Ua Pou island, at 1,230 m (4,035 ft) above sea level.

Marquesan is a collection of East-Central Polynesian dialects, of the Marquesic group, spoken in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia. They are usually classified into two groups, North Marquesan and South Marquesan, roughly along geographic lines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohotani</span> Island in French Polynesia

Mohotani is an uninhabited island southeast of Hiva Oa and east of Tahuata in the southern Marquesas Islands. It has an area of 15 km2. Much of the island's sparse vegetation has been destroyed by feral goats and sheep, to the extent that following its rare rains, the sea around it is stained red from runoff. Early reports describes the island as fertile, with forest and fields. When Thor Heyerdahl visited the island in 1938, there were only a few goats and remains of deserted huts and villages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ua Pou</span> Island in French Polynesia

Ua Pou is the third largest of the Marquesas Islands, in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ua Huka</span> Island in French Polynesia

Ua Huka is one of the Marquesas Islands, in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. It is situated in the northern group of the archipelago, approximately 25 mi (40 km) to the east of Nuku Hiva, at 8°54′S139°33′W.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ultramarine lorikeet</span> Species of bird

The ultramarine lorikeet is a species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae, endemic to the Marquesas Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest and plantations. It is threatened mainly by introduction of the black rat and also by deforestation.

The Marquesan kingfisher or Marquesas kingfisher is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae. It is endemic to French Polynesia. It is threatened by habitat loss and predation by introduced species, and is currently classified as Critically endangered, with fewer than 500 individuals left in the wild.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black monarch</span> Species of bird

The black monarch is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is found in New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manus monarch</span> Species of bird

The Manus monarch, also called the Admiralty Islands monarch, the Admiralty monarch, the Admiralty pied monarch, the somber monarch and the unhappy monarch, is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is endemic to the Admiralty Islands of Papua New Guinea.

The Eiao monarch is an extinct species of bird in the family Monarchidae. The species is sometimes considered to have been conspecific with the Iphis monarch. It was endemic to French Polynesia. Its natural habitats were subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland.

<i>Pomarea</i> Genus of birds

Pomarea is a genus of birds in the monarch flycatcher family Monarchidae. The genus is restricted to the islands of Polynesia. The monarchs of this genus are around 15–19 cm long and most have sexually dimorphic plumage.

The Iphis monarch, or Ua Huka flycatcher, is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is endemic to French Polynesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, and plantations.

The Ua Pou monarch is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae, endemic to the French Polynesian island of Ua Pou. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, and heavily degraded former forest.

The Nuku Hiva monarch, or Nukuhiva flycatcher, was a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It was endemic to French Polynesia. Its natural habitats were subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest. It became extinct due to habitat loss and introduced predators. The last confirmed sighting was in the 1930s and a possible sighting was reported in 1975.

Epicephala spinula is a moth of the family Gracillariidae, one of the most primitive groups of ditrysian "micromoths". Within its family, it belongs to the subfamily Gracillariinae. Even though it was first scientifically studied in 1929, for many decades the specimens of this moth were mistaken for the related Australian species E. colymbetella, and their distinctness was only realized in 1986. It is found on the Marquesas Islands, where it occurs at least on Nuku Hiva, Ua Pou, and Fatu Hiva, and though little-known it is apparently not uncommon. The holotype specimen, a female, is USNM 100839.

<i>Dryopteris macropholis</i> Species of fern

Dryopteris macropholis is a species of fern. It is distributed on the Marquesas Islands.

Libythea collenettei, the Marquesan snout butterfly, is a species of Nymphalid butterfly in the subfamily Libytheinae. The species was first described by Edward Bagnall Poulton and Norman Denbigh Riley in 1923. The specific name honours its original collector, Cyril Leslie Collenette, a member of the 1925 St George Expedition to French Polynesia. It is endemic to French Polynesia, L. collenettei is the only species of butterfly endemic to the Marquesas Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marquesas tropical moist forests</span>

The Marquesas tropical moist forests is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Pomarea mendozae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22734320A95082504. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22734320A95082504.en . Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  2. "IOC World Bird List 6.4". IOC World Bird List Datasets. doi: 10.14344/ioc.ml.6.4 .
  3. "Marquesan Monarch (Pomarea mendozae) - BirdLife species factsheet". www.birdlife.org. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  4. "IOC World Bird List 3.1". IOC World Bird List Datasets. doi:10.14344/ioc.ml.3.1.
  5. "Searching Mohotani Island for the Marquesan Monarch". Island Conservation. 21 July 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2022.